Cut back Medicare, think tank says

MEDICARE funding should be split to allow generations X and Y to save for their own future health needs before the system is eventually scrapped, a right-wing think tank says.

The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) is calling for a complete overhaul of Medicare because it says an ageing population and the rising cost of medical technology is making it unsustainable.

There has been an 80 per cent increase in federal health spending since 2000, and the trend is challenging the long-term future of publicly funded universal care.

Report author Dr Jeremy Sammut says without change "governments will struggle to fund the health services and other services that people will want and need".

Top of his list of solutions is the creation of "New Medicare" for generations X and Y only.

New Medicare would create superannuation-styled savings accounts to pay for minor health problems, with annual deposits made by the federal government in lieu of Medicare entitlements.

Insurance vouchers would be issued so people could buy cover for chronic complaints, under a system that would set a mandatory minimum range of services.

Baby boomers and those older would remain in the current system, which would be phased out when the self-funded New Medicare matured.

Dr Sammut also called for the reintroduction of compulsory co-payments for GP visits and for a means test on Medicare entitlements, so the government wasn't paying for the health needs of the well-off.

"The government tries to be all things to all people and it tries to provide all services to people whether they need them or not, whether they can fund it themselves or not," Dr Sammut said.

"Because health is seen as a bit of political sacred cow and we have these romantic ideas about this universal system, no one is prepared to make any hard decisions."

He admitted Generation Y - generally those born after 1977 - and Generation X - those born after 1966 - would oppose changes excluding them from the universal health care enjoyed by older Australians.

"Yes, there are costs for Gen Y and Gen X, but they are going to pay one way or another," he said.

"Either they are going to pay through their taxes to fund an inefficient public health system, or we can move to this more efficient system."

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Mandela in good shape: ANC

SOUTH Africa's former president Nelson Mandela is in "good shape" after his recent hospitalisation, the ruling ANC says, after President Jacob Zuma visited the democracy icon.

"They found president Mandela in good shape and in good spirits," the party said in a statement.

Zuma and the top brass of the African National Congress dropped in on the ailing 94-year-old at his Johannesburg home, where he has been recuperating under high-care since his hospital release earlier this month.

Mandela returned home on April 6 after spending 10 days in hospital being treated for a recurrent lung infection.

The ANC visitors were briefed by Mandela's medical team and "are satisfied that president Mandela is in good health and is receiving the very best medical care".

The ANC said Mandela was "keenly aware of the goodwill that has been outpouring from the peoples of the globe as befitting his status as our icon".

"The African National Congress thanks all South Africans and the international community for keeping president Mandela in their thoughts and prayers," it added.

Mandela's latest hospitalisation was his third since December.

South Africa's first black president was admitted for a night for a scheduled check-up in March and in December he was hospitalised for 18 days for a lung infection and gallstones surgery.

That stint was his longest since he walked free from 27 years in jail in 1990.

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Mum forced 14-year-old to get pregnant

A WOMAN desperate for another child forced her 14-year-old daughter to get pregnant using syringes of donor sperm, a British judge says.

In a ruling reported for the first time on Monday, High Court judge Peter Jackson said the mother had behaved in "a wicked and selfish way" that almost defied belief.

The judge said the woman, an American divorcee living in Britain with three adopted children, hatched the plan after she was prevented from adopting a fourth.

The scheme involved getting her oldest daughter to inseminate herself with syringes of sperm purchased over the internet from a Denmark-based company, Cryos International.

Jackson said the daughter, identified only as A, "became pregnant at the mother's request, using donor sperm bought by the mother, with the purpose of providing a fourth child for the mother to bring up as her own".

In his ruling, the judge quoted the teenager as saying she was shocked by the suggestion, but thought, "If I do this ... maybe she will love me more."

"My mum is a very determined person and she does her best not to let anything get in her way if she wants it," the teenager added.

The judge said the mother also made the teenager use douches of vinegar or lemon and lime juice in hopes of increasing her chances of having a girl.

The judge said it was likely but not certain that the daughter soon became pregnant and suffered a miscarriage. After six more attempts with the donor sperm, she gave birth to a baby boy in July 2011, when she was 17.

But midwives at the hospital became alarmed by the odd behaviour of A's mother. Her daughter wanted to breastfeed the baby, but her mother said: "We don't want any of that attachment thing."

The hospital alerted the authorities, and the children were taken into foster care. The mother is now serving a five-year jail term for child cruelty.

Details of the case were heard during proceedings at the family division of the High Court over the children's future last year. They were reported for the first time on Monday after several British media organisations, including the publisher of The Guardian newspaper, challenged reporting restrictions.

A court order bars identifying the family members in order to protect the children.

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New PM vows to save Italy from austerity

ITALY'S new Prime Minister Enrico Letta says his coalition government will act fast to reverse an austerity policy he argues is killing Italy and has called on Europe to become a motor for growth.

"Italy is dying from austerity alone. Growth policies cannot wait," Letta said during his inaugural speech to parliament on Monday, under the watchful gaze of European partners.

The recession-hit country, effectively rudderless since an inconclusive election in February, is under pressure to act fast to tackle social, economic and institutional ills.

The leftist moderate, who was sworn in with his cabinet on Sunday, promised to have results in 18 months or "take the consequences".

He said the economic situation in Italy - one of the first countries to fall prey to the eurozone debt crisis - "is still serious" and its two trillion euro ($A2.5 trillion) debt "weighs heavily" on ordinary Italians.

But he also looked to Europe, saying it was suffering from "a crisis of legitimacy and ... must become once more a motor of sustainable growth" - a reference to his aim to persuade Europe to reverse its disputed austerity policy.

The 46-year-old moderate from the centre-left Democratic Party said he wants to deal quickly with the social fallout of the longest economic slump in 20 years.

Investors appeared buoyed by the new leadership, with Italy performing well at its first market test, paying significantly lower rates to raise 6.0 billion euros at a five- and ten-year bond auction

Letta said the political class had to react to the growing anti-establishment voice in Italy, which was driven by anger over politicians' perks at a time of widespread financial difficulties.

The government's first act would be to cut the salaries of ministers who are also members of parliament, and are therefore currently eligible for two salaries, he said.

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Google pushes personal assistant on Apple

GOOGLE has announced it will offer its personal assistant app Google Now to users of Apple devices, stepping up its challenge to its rival's Siri program.

"Google Now is about giving you just the right information at just the right time," Google's Andrea Huey said in a blog announcement.

"It can show you the day's weather as you get dressed in the morning, or alert you that there's heavy traffic between you and your butterfly-inducing date - so you'd better leave now!

"It can also share news updates on a story you've been following, remind you to leave for the airport so you can make your flight and much more."

Google Now, which like Siri is a voice-activated software program - will be available to users of Apple iPhones and iPads, which use the iOS operating system.

"Today, with the launch of Google Now on iPhone and iPad, your smartphone will become even smarter," Huey said.

The move comes with the two California tech giants in a fierce battle for domination of mobile operating platforms. Google's Android has taken the lead in smartphones and is gaining rapidly in the tablet market.

Google meanwhile has argued that Apple's Siri is a potential threat to its core search engine by allowing smartphone users to bypass Google for many searches, which can generate ad revenue.

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UN appeals for Syria chemical arms inquiry

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has made a new plea to Syria to stop blocking an international inquiry into the alleged use of chemical weapons in the country's conflict.

Ban met the head of the investigation team, Ake Sellstrom, as international suspicions about the use of the weapons grow and on the day designated to remember the victims of chemical weapons attacks.

Ban told reporters he "takes seriously" US reports about the weapons and said "I again urge the Syrian authorities to allow the investigation to proceed without delay and without any conditions".

Sellstrom and an advanced team now in Cyprus can deploy to Syria "within 24 to 48 hours", the UN secretary-general said on Monday.

President Bashar al-Assad's government asked for a UN inquiry but has refused to let investigators into the country, demanding they be limited to its claims that opposition rebels used chemical weapons near Aleppo on March 19.

Britain and France have asked that the inquiry also look at opposition claims that chemical arms also had been used in Homs and near Damascus.

Ban wrote a new letter to Assad on Thursday seeking access as the United States revealed its suspicions that chemical arms have been used. Diplomats said the Syrian government is barely communicating with UN and other international bodies.

"I take seriously the recent intelligence report of the United States about the use of chemical weapons in Syria," Ban said. "On-site activities are essential if the United Nations is to be able to establish the facts and clear up all the doubts surrounding this issue.

"A credible and comprehensive inquiry requires full access to the sites where chemical weapons are alleged to have been used," he added.

"I encourage all involved to uphold their responsibilities in enabling us to properly police these heinous weapons of massive destruction."

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Santander bank chief resigns: company

THE Spanish banking giant Santander has announced the resignation of chief executive Alfredo Saenz, who was convicted in 2011 for irregularities in a debt-recovery case.

He will be replaced by Javier Marin, Santander's current head of insurance, asset management and private banking, said the bank, which is the eurozone's biggest by capitalisation.

It gave no reason in its statement for the "voluntary resignation" of Saenz, 70, who had been chief executive since 2002 and had looked likely to succeed Emilio Botin as executive chairman.

Saenz was convicted in 2011 of lodging false charges against certain creditors in order to reclaim debts from them, but no final sentence has been pronounced against him.

In November 2011 the outgoing Socialist government commuted his initial sentence, a suspended jail term and a banking ban, to a fine.

But Spain's Supreme Court partially quashed that decision this month.

The offences date to 1994 when Saenz was chairman of Banesto, a bank that was bought that year by Santander.

Saenz is eligible for a pension of 88.2 million euros ($A112.8 million) and was paid 8.2 million euros by the bank last year, according to its annual report.

The bank said it had nearly quadrupled in size during his tenure, with assets growing from 358 billion euros to 1.25 trillion euros.

"The board of directors expressed its recognition of and gratitude for Alfredo Saenz's extraordinary achievements since joining the group," it said in a statement.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government this month passed a decree allowing bankers with penal convictions to continue working in the sector if the Spanish central bank gave its authorisation.

That was seen as a positive step for Saenz on his way towards replacing Botin at the top of Santander.

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